Some cancers 'more likely' in Alcoa workers

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Employees in the Victorian operations of aluminium company Alcoa have a higher incidence of some cancers than the average person, a study has found.

But the study, by researchers at Monash University and the University of Western Australia, also concluded that Alcoa workers had a lower overall risk of dying than the general population and had a lower total incidence of cancer than the average Australian.

Yesterday was the second time the group has released the Cancer and Mortality study. In 2002 it issued a report finding similarly elevated levels of some cancers.

The study was set up by Alcoa in 1994 after some international studies suggested that aluminium industry workers might face increased cancer risks. More than 11,000 past and present employees in Victoria and Western Australia have been involved in the ongoing study.

The findings show that the greatest disparity between Alcoa workers and other Australians is in the rate of mesothelioma, a type of lung cancer caused primarily by exposure to asbestos.

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"This finding was not unexpected," Alcoa's occupational physician, Michael Donoghue, said. "Mesothelioma is almost always caused by asbestos exposure and, like many companies in the 1960s and 1970s, Alcoa used asbestos in the early operation of the Point Henry smelter and rolling mill (in Geelong). It is likely that these cases relate to occupational exposure at Alcoa."

The company says asbestos has never been used at its Portland facility.

The study found five cases of mesothelioma among Alcoa's workforce since 1983. All were fatal. Only two cases would be expected according to the average national incidence.

Dr Donoghue said Alcoa has settled all claims relating to illness caused by asbestos exposure in the Alcoa workplace. He said the company was now regarded as a world leader in the removal of asbestos and was confident its current employees were not exposed to asbestos.

The study also found that the company's Victorian workers were at greater risk of contracting and dying from stomach, kidney and prostate cancers.

Dr Donoghue described these findings as surprising, but pledged the next phase of the research would investigate the cause of the elevated incidence.

"We have no known reason for this finding as previous studies have not found an association between prostate cancer and the aluminium industry," he said.